Dataset Information

A Community-Based Investigation of Stigma Toward Individuals Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment in China: A Randomized Case Vignette Study.

ABSTRACT: Background: Even though methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is effective and widely recommended, it is widely misunderstood and stigmatized. This study aimed to explore people's attitudes and beliefs toward MMT, and stigmatization of MMT patients in China. Methods: This randomized, vignette-based study enrolled 1,066 household respondents (552 males and 514 females, response rate is 88.83%, 86.00% in vignette 1 and 91.66% in vignette 2) from two communities in China. Respondents initially completed questionnaires on sociodemographic characteristics and their knowledge about methadone and MMT. They were then randomly assigned to vignette 1 (described a patient receiving MMT) or vignette 2 (described a patient receiving amlodipine treatment). The labeling, stereotyping, and social distance toward the individual described in the vignettes were evaluated. Results: In these two vignettes, respondents showed a significantly higher level of stigma and discrimination toward the patient receiving MMT than the patient receiving amlodipine treatment. Approximately 60% of respondents believed that methadone is a type of addictive drug and that participating in MMT is a way to get high. Over 60% of respondents labeled the heroin-dependent patient who is receiving MMT as an addict even though the patient has not used heroin for several years; about 80% of them believed that the patient has undesirable characteristics and expressed a strong desire for social distance. Conclusions: People's misunderstanding of MMT, and stigmatization of MMT patients were very common among populations in the communities in China. To maximize MMT patients benefiting from MMT programs, more efforts are needed to minimize the impact of MMT-related stigma.

SUBMITTER: Deng Q

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7723969 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

A Community-Based Investigation of Stigma Toward Individuals Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment in China: A Randomized Case Vignette Study.

Deng Qijian Q Hu Maorong M Yu Fang F Liu Qiaosheng Q Hao Wei W Wu Qiuxia Q Luo Tao T

Frontiers in psychiatry 20201125

<b>Background:</b> Even though methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is effective and widely recommended, it is widely misunderstood and stigmatized. This study aimed to explore people's attitudes and beliefs toward MMT, and stigmatization of MMT patients in China. <b>Methods:</b> This randomized, vignette-based study enrolled 1,066 household respondents (552 males and 514 females, response rate is 88.83%, 86.00% in vignette 1 and 91.66% in vignette 2) from two communities in China. Respondents ...[more]

PMID: 33324264

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Project description:ImportancePerceived stigma among patients with alopecia is associated with impaired quality of life; however, the magnitude of laypersons' stigma toward individuals with alopecia is unknown.ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and magnitude of laypersons' stigma toward individuals with varying degrees of alopecia and whether stigma increases with increased severity of alopecia.Design, setting, and participantsThis was a cross-sectional study using an internet survey administered to a convenience sample of adult respondents in the US participating on the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform. Portrait images of 6 individuals without hair loss were created using artificial intelligence and stock images. Each portrait was edited to create 2 additional versions, 1 with scalp hair loss and 1 with complete hair loss, for a total of 18 images. On January 9 to 10, 2020, the survey presented each internet respondent with 1 randomly selected portrait to be used in answering a series of stigma-related questions from 3 domains: stereotypes, social distance, and disease-related myths; the third domain was presented only to respondents who believed that the individual pictured had a medical condition.Main outcomes and measuresThe main outcome was the prevalence and magnitude of stigma of laypersons toward individuals with alopecia and the percentage of laypersons who believed the individual pictured had a medical condition as recorded in survey responses.ResultsThe survey was completed by 2015 respondents (99.9% completion rate) with a mean age of 37 (range, 18-78) years; 1014 (50.3%) were men; 1596 (79.2%) were White; and 1397 (69.3%) had a college or postcollege education. Endorsement of every stigma item increased as alopecia severity increased (2.4%-27.6%). Absolute change on the stereotype (0.5-0.6) and social distance scales (0.2-0.5) also increased, indicating more stigma. The percentage of respondents believing the individual pictured had a medical condition increased as alopecia severity increased (33.6%-75.7%; P < .001). Among the subgroup of respondents who were asked to rate their agreement with disease-related myths, the absolute change on the myth scale decreased as alopecia severity increased, indicating decreased stigma (-0.7 to -1.2).Conclusions and relevanceThis cross-sectional survey study found that stigmatizing attitudes of laypersons toward patients with alopecia exist across a multitude of social and professional scenarios. Stigma prevalence and magnitude vary by alopecia severity and possibly by whether alopecia is believed to be a medical condition.

Project description:Objectives: Opioid dependence has been a threat to public health for hundreds of years. With the increasing number of studies on acupuncture-related therapies for opioid dependence patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), its effect of acupuncture therapy in treating MMT patients remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted a multiple-treatments meta-analysis, and incorporated both direct and indirect comparisons, in order to discover the most effective treatment for opioid dependence patients receiving MMT. Methods: Five English databases and three Chinese databases were searched from its inception to August 20, 2020, in order to compare the effects of acupuncture-related therapies and MMT, which was summarized as Western medicine (WM) in the following texts. The quality of studies was assessed according to Cochrane's risk of bias tool 5.1.0, and a pair-wise meta-analysis, cumulative meta-analysis, and the network meta-analysis was performed using the R software (Version 3.6.1) and STATA (Version 14.0). The primary outcome was the effective rate, which was calculated by the ratio of detoxifying patients to the total. The secondary outcome was the Modified Himmelsbach Opiate Withdrawal Scale (MHOWS). Results: A total of 20 trials were included, which consisted of comparisons among WM, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and the four types of acupuncture, namely, manual acupuncture (MA), electro-acupuncture (EA), auricular acupuncture (AA), and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS). Though none of the trials were at low risk of bias. In the pair-wise meta-analysis, no statistically significant differences were observed in terms of the effective rate. Furthermore, MA was more efficacious than WM, EA, and TEAS in MHOWS, with mean differences (MDs) of (-8.59, 95% CI: -15.96 to -1.23, P < 0.01), (-6.15, 95% CI: -9.45 to -2.85, P < 0.05), and (-10.44, 95% CI: -16.11 to -4.77, P < 0.05), respectively. In the network meta-analysis, MA was more effective than WM (RR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.99) on the effective rate, and (MD: -5.74, 95% CI: -11.60 to -0.10) on MHOWS. TEAS was more effective than WM (MD: -15.34, 95% CI: -27.34 to -3.46) on MHOWS. Synthetically, MA had the highest probability to rank first in treating opioid dependence. Conclusions: The existing evidence shows that acupuncture related-therapies may effectively be used for treating patients receiving MMT, and that manual acupuncture may be the best choice for opioid dependence among all kinds of acupuncture-related therapies. Nevertheless, reducing the relapse and promoting the recovery of opioid dependence need more efforts from not only the medical industry but also government support, security system, and educational popularization. To strengthen the assurance of acupuncture-related therapies in the treatment of opioid dependence, we expected that clinical trials with high quality would be conducted, to provide more confident evidence.

Project description:Background and aimExperience of stigma towards methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) may be a barrier to the use of this treatment by people with opioid use disorder. We evaluated the factor structure, internal reliability, construct and criterion validity of a theory-based stigma measure, the Methadone Maintenance Treatment Stigma Mechanisms Scale (MMT-SMS) and compared this with the Substance Use Stigma Mechanism Scale (SU-SMS).DesignSurveys at the beginning and end of a prospective study together with records of drug use and treatment attendance during that study.SettingCommunity methadone clinic in the Northeastern USA.ParticipantsNinety-three participants who were receiving MMT; the average daily methadone dose was 84.8 mg/day (standard deviation = 28.39 mg/day).MeasurementsThe MMT-SMS uses a self-report questionnaire to assess three dimensions reflecting experiences of anticipated (nine items), enacted (nine items) and internalized stigma (seven items) specifically related to receiving MMT. Anticipated and enacted scales include three stigma source subscales (family, employers, health care workers; three items each). Responses are recorded on a five-point Likert-type scale, then averaged to produce the MMT-SMS scale/subscale scores. The SU-SMS is a self-report questionnaire to assess experiences of anticipated, enacted and internalized stigma regarding substance use history. Both scales were administered at the final parent study visit. Other measures included were assessed in the parent study and used to assess life-time and recent MMT (e.g. current MMT dose) and drug use experiences (e.g. past 30-day heroin injection).FindingsThe MMT-SMS demonstrated good internal reliability (α = 0.806-0.952 for components). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the seven-factor scale structure, distinguishing between experiences of anticipated, enacted and internalized stigma, and anticipated and enacted stigma source subscales (family, employers, health care workers) [root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.076, 90% confidence interval (CI) = 0.061-0.090, P-close = 0.003; confirmatory fit index (CFI) = 0.974; Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.971]. Construct validity helped to distinguish the MMT-SMS from established substance use stigma constructs. Criterion validity observed associations with substance use experiences while on MMT, likely to predict future MMT success. Internalized MMT stigma was uniquely associated with daily MMT dose. Regarding criterion validity: anticipated MMT and enacted substance use stigma were associated with past 30-day heroin injection, MMT stigma uniquely associated with opioid use behaviors while receiving MMT, and substance use stigma broadly associated with injection-related behaviors.ConclusionsThe Methadone Maintenance Treatment Stigma Mechanisms Scale appears to be a reliable measure of methadone maintenance treatment stigma with robust validity in a sample of people with opioid use disorders receiving methadone maintenance treatment.

Dataset Information

A Community-Based Investigation of Stigma Toward Individuals Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment in China: A Randomized Case Vignette Study.

Publications

A Community-Based Investigation of Stigma Toward Individuals Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment in China: A Randomized Case Vignette Study.

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